Phew, where do I start? The last few weeks have been crazy jam-packed full of preparation for this year’s h+h show, the presentation for my new fabric collection FLUTTER (in stores in May!) and planning of many new projects for the future. Now that the show has been and gone and we are in the middle of a little Easter break I finally have a moment to sit down and reflect. So let me tell you about the h+h, why this year’s show was the best so far and also my resolutions for an even better one next year.
The h+h is an international trade fair for creative handicraft and hobby supplies which is hosted annually in March in the beautiful German city on the Rhine, Cologne. I was there with Swafing, the company that produces and distributes my fabric designs, in order to promote my new collection and to host a make & take craft area at their booth. The crafts my lovely design colleagues Amanda & Cindy from Riley Blake and I prepared for last year were very popular, so we decided to again provide fun projects to make this year. This, of course, meant a lot of preparation, cutting, glueing, organizing, packing and planning, but I was quite happy to do so and with a little help from a dear friend and all those lovely people on Instagram cheering me along (and the newest episodes of Grey’s Anatomy), in the end, it was even quite fun.
I want to say a big thanks to PRYM for providing the buttons, brooch needles, color snaps, pliers, button makers and so much more and to FARBENMIX for all those gorgeous ribbons. I will be posting a tutorial on how to use the button makers tomorrow so stay tuned for that, it’s such a great way to use up tiny fabric scraps.
Anyway, as I can be a bit shy sometimes, the make & takes are a great opportunity for me to get chatty with people in a casual environment and I’m so glad so many of you came and said hello and got involved in lots of fun crafting and chatting. I was totally thrilled by the creative output coming from the craft table and I hope everyone had as much fun as I did! For our visitors the make & take area was a perfect chance for them to sit down, have a little chat with colleagues and just relax a bit between shopping the newest craft supplies.
I was especially delighted by the MY LOVELY LIVING ROOM event space, which had been newly designed by the Koelnmesse for this year’s show. It was divided into the subtopics Workshop, World of Living and Talk-Sofa and some of my partners had helped with decorating the world of living area so I was quite thrilled to find fabric by Swafing and a nursery room fully decorated by Sabine of Farbenmix there. In the workshop area my friend Anja Brinkmann, aka Maki, held a series of workshops over the course of the three days and on Friday the two of us joined Emanuela Pesche of Tante Ema and the super lovely Grete of Stoffsalat, who hosted the talk, to share insights from our work as textile designers on the talk-sofa.
This year I felt the show was bubbling with an even greater energy than last year. Maybe this is due to the growing new generation of craft entrepreneurs, designers and start-ups who are internet savvy and communicate actively in social media networks such as Instagram and Facebook. There definitely was a very modern new vibe going in and out of the fair ground and it was very exciting to be a part of it. I bumped into many of my industry friends and colleagues and made new acquaintances and friends which is always so much fun (like here in the MyBoshi foto booth with some of my dearest friends donning knitted wigs and props) and something I look forward to all year long.
Of course, it was also lots of fun bumping into people wearing my fabric. The most stunning ones for me was this totally trendy shirt worn and made by Michael Kippelt from my Dinopunk fabric and Sarah’s gorgeous messenger bag made using fabric from my new collection Flutter. Find out more about this lovely bag on Sarah’s blog Mädchenkram.
My biggest resolutions for next year’s show are: see more and take more photos! I am quite ashamed at the amount, or rather almost complete lack, of pictures I took this year, so be warned, next year, I will be the crazy camera lady. Also, by that time, due to intense studying, coaching and training, I surely will have mastered the art of being photogenic, if all else fails though, knitted macaroni wigs and tassled snouts might come in handy.
Looking forward to all the adventures the h+h 2016 has to offer already!
xoxo
Andrea
photo credit: (top left) Koelnmesse
